Luca and Blitz stretch themselves out beside us easily, while Temple gracefully rests at our heads. I don’t expect Ace to join us at all, so I’m surprised when he does. He butts his nose against my hand, and I revel in the feeling of his power and mine together.
“Grinta,” I murmur, reaffirming our bond. “I hope one day we can bond like your momma and I have. I don’t ever want to lose you.”
Ace tilts his head back and licks across my cheek, making me gasp since he’s never this affectionate.
He immediately backs off and I don’t make a big deal about it as he takes up position a few paces away from us, a sentinel watching over us.
So, too, is Roman.
He lights the fireplace and pulls up the armchair in front of it, closing his eyes, a silent presence as I settle in with my sisters and try to sleep.
Half an hour later, I’m still awake.
It must be past dawn, the day of the final trial. I’ve been up all night and I should be dying to sleep. While my sisters’ breathing has deepened and their forms are completely relaxed, I find myself seeking Roman across the room.
He’s comfortably slumped in the armchair by the fire, one leg stretched out farther than the other, but his eyes are open, his focus on me heating me to my core.
His gaze runs the length of my body from my lips to my pelvis, warming my skin and igniting an ache between my thighs, all without even touching me. The growing tension between us now is undeniable.
The final fight today could end me.
I only have one more day.
I can’t rest yet.
Just as I consider how I can extricate myself from my sisters without disturbing them, Roman rises from his seat, a towering demon, his footsteps completely silent as he approaches, bends to me, and lifts me into his arms.
A glimmer of power falls from his fingertips into the space I leave behind, a sapphire rune settling onto my sisters before they can stir. Their breathing deepens again, and they remain asleep. Three of my demon wolves don’t wake up, but Ace lifts his head to consider us with slanted violet eyes, only to rest his head down again, unconcerned.
My head tilts back in Roman’s arms, a steady throb growing in my center when he drops his lips to mine and a trickle of pleasure slips through to my core.
He doesn’t say a word until he carries me past the lounge room, up a white wooden staircase, and into a large bedroom. He nudges the door closed and even theclickis muffled as a rune shimmers across the wooden surface, and I sense a seal tightening on the room.
“We won’t wake anyone now,” he says as he lowers me to the floor, and I turn to see his bedroom.
This room doesn’t have the same personal touches as Roman’s cabin, but it has his stamp on it: a huge mahogany bed with a thick mattress piled high with dark gray blankets and pillows.
“Roman, I—”
His hands slip around my stomach, pulling me back against him. The long shirt I’m wearing lifts beneath his touch and heat races through me, igniting my need. My legs are already parting for him, inviting his touch as his palm slides down my stomach and then beneath my underpants. His fingers slip into my folds to find me wet and ready for him.
“Rune,” I moan as he strokes me, moving moisture around my clit with his thumb, while his middle fingers slide inside me, back and forth.
The only thing keeping me standing now is his body behind me.
These quick, incredible moments seem to be all we can snatch, but I don’t want it to be quick this time. I want to draw out every tantalizing moment. I swear to myself that if I survive this final trial, if my life finally settles into some kind of normal, I’m going to drag Roman into a bed and neither of us will leave it for a week.
When I moan with need, he spins me around, and I stare up into his stormy-green eyes, this gorgeous demon who captivated me with every mysterious layer of his soul.
As I push up on my toes, my lips crash against his, and I rock my body into him so that I can feel his hard length. As we kiss, he traces one hand up my spine and into my hair, tangling his fingers in my long tresses and pulling me even closer.
We kiss for a long time and when he finally pulls away, he presses his lips to cheek, then my mouth once more, then down my neck.
“I almost lost you twice last night,” he rumbles against my skin, kissing lower and lower until he reaches the base of my shirt, at which point he starts drawing the material up over my body, kissing higher with every spot he reveals. When he finds my right nipple, he latches on, drawing out a long groan from me as I feel the pull of his mouth all the way to my center.
“Roman. Rune.” I speak both of his names, moistening my lips before I ask for what I want. “Fuck me.”
He laughs as he draws my shirt over my head, and it’s a surprising and truly infectious sound that brightens my spirits just by hearing it. “As you command, demon-wolf.”
